


puppet strings

by Guineapigwithapen



Category: Kindergarten (Video Games 2017 2019)
Genre: Angst, Kindergarden, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29273406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guineapigwithapen/pseuds/Guineapigwithapen
Summary: Most children at a young age have to deal with a hard math problem at most but Kid had to focus just to stay in control of his own body for goodness sake. It had been 9 years since then and he hadn't seen a trace of T̢̗̾̈́̓͢h͙̞̥̃̇͐ę͡ ̢̳̠̱̑͗̊̃̔ͅp̨͓͉̌͌̊l͓͙̭͖͋̒͌̈a͈̻̲̼͊̍͘y̝̖̬̤̋̉̚͠e̖̺͍̿̌͑r̳̭͈̾̂͗ since, but that would change soon, very soon.
Relationships: Felix Huxley/Protagonist, felix/kid
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. just another day

Many people look back at their childhood and reminisce. They think of days where the real world hadn't hit them and they could act out and not get in trouble because "they didn't know any better" but not Kid he didn't like his childhood maybe it was because he was made to feel less than average or maybe it was because his kindergarten was run by a bunch an insane "teachers" who thought doing experience on children was the best way to pass the time.

No, the real reason Kid didn't like his 5-6-year-old life was because of the time loops. the never-ending cycles of trial and error. The month's spent being a living puppet for someone else's entertainment. But it had been 9 years since then and he hadn't seen the player once. He sometimes had nightmares about it but other than that he had mostly forgotten about the player up until today.

He was fighting for control trying to hold onto his consciousness when he heard the door open and the twins, Billy and Lilly, ran in. He tried to stay awake for as long as he could but the effort of it was keeping him in an amount of excruciating pain. Finally,  
Kid gave up and let darkness swallow him. You might be thinking about what happens next or what everyone's going to do once they see that Kid had passed out. As much as I would love to answer all of your questions I think we should start from the beginning which is a very good place to start.

It was the first day of 8th grade and everyone was on the school bus. Well, except the people that couldn't afford the school bus. They had to walk. Cindy was arguing with Monty. Lily, Billy, Nugget, Penny, Ted, and Kid we're talking. Felix was Reading a book. Jerome was playing Monster Mon with Carla. Ozzie was using copious amounts of hand sanitizer and looking disgusted at the State of the school bus seats. Kid knew all the people on this bus. They all went to the same kindergarten. He lived in a small town so usually you would stay with the same group of people from kindergarten up to the end of adolescents.

He lived in a small town so usually you would stay with the same group of people from kindergarten up to the end of adolescents  
The bus stopped and everyone made their way to the field in front of the school. Once they got to the doors, they scrambled into a line pushing and shoving so they could be near the front. The doors were opened by one of the teachers and everyone filtered into the halls and broke off to go find their lockers.

Cindy was still shouting at Monty as she followed him to his locker "That's so overpriced! Five dollars for a ribbon?!" "If you can't pay for it, then don't buy it" Monty looked so fed up with Cindy at this point, he could have blasted her with his wheelchair. The only thing stopping him were the several teachers nearby. He he didn't want to get study Hall, he was a businessman after all and he had things to sell.

"ARE YOU TALKING BACK TO ME?!!!" Cindy screeched. Monty slammed his locker and looked directly at Cindy "If you don't shut up and go away, I won't sell you anything this week!" Cindy gave him a death glare and stomped off. Monty looked relieved. The bell rang and everyone grabbed their books and bags. Felix and a few others left towards Class A while Teddy and the rest left for Class B.

Kid felt he had gotten a boring class because all of his friends were in Class B and he was stuck in Class A. It didn't help that Class A was getting Science which was his least favorite subject. It reminded him too much of the experiments being done in his two old kindergartens. Kid was spacing out. His eyes glossed over as he used a tactic Carla taught him: How to fall sleep in class without actually closing your eyes.

He had been working on it for a few weeks and he gotten pretty good but Carla was the best. She could even answer questions in her sleep. The teacher rambled on and on about plants and specimens. The sun was shining through the window making the smaller room feel like an oven. Kid and the rest of the class were relieved when the bell finally rang, signaling lunch. Everyone was pushing and shoving so they could get to lunch first so all the good food wouldn't be eaten. In all the hustle and bustle kid tripped and almost fell on his face but something caught him. He felt a hand on his torso pulling him up. Kid was about to thank him for catching his fall when he turned to see who it was. Felix.


	2. Chapter 2

Kids face lit up red like Cindy's lipstick. "Uh I ummm", Kid was at a loss for words. "You're welcome", Felix said and left a flustered Kid behind him. He was also a bit ruffled though he tried to cover up and hide it. You're not supposed to feel that way towards a boy, let alone Kid who is middle class. You have a company to inherit get yourself together Felix, the blue shirted twin thought to himself.

Everyone was making their way down to the cafeteria. Kid took a beeline towards the usual lunch table. Lilly, Billy, Nugget and Ted where waiting for him. Kid grabbed a lunch tray. It was a Monday which meant sloppy joes. Kid wrinkled his nose at the soggy bread and messy meat slowly seeping out the side. He sat down at the table.

"Where's Penny?", Kid questioned, noticing the absence of a certain robot.  
"Oh I think she's getting her lunch", Lilly said pushing her hair out of the way so she wouldn't get any food in it. A few moments later Penny came in through the cafeteria doors and sat down next to nugget and Teddy.

She was carrying a light blue lunchbox with a few small dents in it from various times she dropped it. Penny opened her lunchbox and pulled out What looked to be a soda from far away, but was really a can of oil. Penny was a robot so she didn't have to actually eat. Sometimes Kid wished he was a robot so he didn't have to eat the disgusting school food, then again he didn't want to drink oil.

"So how bad was your class?", Lily asked. "Well it was science, so not the best, l actually ran into Felix", Kids said trying to seem nonchalant. At that, Teddy looked up at the name of his brother. They haven't talked about Felix for a long time. The two Huxley brothers didn't have the best relationship because of something that happened in kindergarten involving a certain nugget cave and some spiders.

Felix was definitely less maniacal as he was back then, but Teddy still didn't like talking about him. Billy, seeing this, changed the subject". "Soooo what is your class's plans for the festival?". Billy was referring to the festival that happened near the start of school in about a month. The festival seemed like a cool thing where you dance and have fun, but it was really just an excuse to make the school look better.

The festival was a charity project where are all the classes would create different things to sell and all the money left over would go to charity, "Our teacher didn't say yet", kid explained finally taking a bite of his food "Nuggets teacher said it's either we're making wind chimes or pottery" Nugget said.

The bell rung once more and everyone cleaned up there lunch's and duped there left over food in bin. Kid had barely eaten but it wasn't really a big concern of his he could just get something from Monty or pay Carla to grab something from the teachers brake room.

Everyone maybe there was out to recess. Lilly and Penny where playing hop scotch, well if you could call it that. It had been stepped on and smudged so much you could barely see it.

Carla and Monty where "talking", but knowing them they were probably doing something that was not following the rule code. Cindy was looking annoyed, mumbling something about high prices and Monty being stupid crippled freak.

Everything was going fine until Penny tripped over a pothole in the asphalt and fell on the ground at a nasty angle. If she were human it would've hurt a considerable amount and she would probably have to go to the hospital, but because Penny was made with metal, all she had was a big dent and a few wires showing. Lilly and Billy helped to get her to the School doors probably to go find a teacher and explain what happened.

Kid tried to follow but the teacher who was outside at recess said that there Where Enough people and he should just stay here Penny would be fine. Kid tried to protest but knew it wouldn't be any use so he finally gave up.

Kid was still a little angry at the teacher for not letting him see Penny so he sat on a high stone wall witch he knew teachers thought was "dangerous." Kid was so caught up on trying to Annoy the teachers he didn't notice someone else was already on the wall. "Oh it's you I uh ha." Kid was so embarrassed.

He had had a tiny crush on the blue shirted Huxley twin for awhile, but had never told anyone his friend group didn't really like Felix and as much as wished he could date him he one didn't have the courage to talk to him let alone ask him out and two even if he did ask him out he doubted Felix would say yes.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a few days since Penny's injury. The day was gloomy. Kid trudged towards the school. He had missed the bus. The rain came down dull and hard. Kid pulled up his yellow rain jacket, but it was no use the rain still found a way to get him all wet.

The few past days had been humdrum. Lilly and Billy's family had gone to Seattle, Ted was sick, Penny was still getting repaired and Nugget was never around because he and Monty were working out the price to pay for a luxury shovel.

All and all he was not having the best week and to top it off the class was doing the standardized math test. Ugh, could this day get any worse?!

Apparently so, because once Kid got to lunch they were having bagels and cream cheese which would have tasted great except for the fact that the cream cheese was probably expired and tasted more like rotten milk than anything.

Prolonging the inevitable, Kid just sat down not getting lunch. He was sitting alone because his only friend who was currently at school was sitting with Monty and discussing the nugget trade.

Kid was staring down at his empty plate and worrying about the math quiz when he heard someone place their lunchbox on his table. He looked up to see Felix which would have been considered strange seeing that he usually sat with the rich kids on the other side of the cafeteria, but today a lot of people were absent because of the rain so Felix sat next to Kid.

In fact, Felix and Kid were spending a lot of time together because almost everyone was absent. Felix actually wasn't too bad once you got to know him, sure he played the persona of the snobby rich boy, but he could be nice if he tried. Felix was surprised to see that Kid was very intelligent he Also was really funny and whenever he was around your problems seemed less important.

Today's the day, Kid thought as he walked to school holding a letter. If you had told Kid he would confess to Felix a few weeks ago he wouldn't have believed you, but here he was holding a love letter for Felix.

Kid had gone back-and-forth in his mind for the past few days if he should confess. Part of him was saying he should. He loved this boy right? What was there to lose? But the other half was reminding him that Felix would never accept a love letter from anyone especially not him.

In the end, he had chosen to confess. Ok Kid, stop panicking and overthinking everything and just man up and give it to him! Kid thought trying to be positive geez confessing was all this work was it even worth it?

After lunch, they were both outside at recess. Felix was leaning against a tree reading a book. Kid walked up to him and handed him the letter, "I-I like you Felix"

Kid walked up to him and handed him the letter, "I-I like you Felix"   
Felix stared back at the brunette in pure shock. Kid liked him. Kid liked HIM! Felix was wide-eyed it felt like everything had slowed down. He did like Kid, but what would father say?

Felix was the brother who didn't screw up. Felix was the dependable twin. Felix was the better one right? NO! Felix was fed up with being perfect with being Responsible and good all the time. He hated trying to live up to his stupid father's expectations. It was exhausting! He knew he was going to lose his reputation and his father's "love", but now Felix was past caring. "I love you to Kid!"


	4. Chapter 4

It was the week that Billy and Lilly would return from their vacation. Penny had been repaired a few days prior and Teddy was over his cold, so Kid thought this would be the best week to tell his friends about his boyfriend.

He had been putting it off for a long time, but he decided he was going to tell them today. Sitting in the creative writing class, working on parts of a conclusion, Kid wasn't really paying attention. He sat twirling his pen around and thinking about how he would tell Teddy that he was dating his brother.

Ugh, why does everything have to be so complicated, he thought, looking down at his half-finished conclusion. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the bell rang. Kid shoveled down his lunch and ran out to the playground. The rest of his friends were sitting and watching the dodgeball game. It wasn't really a proper dodgeball game because it was outside and people were just throwing balls and making up rules as they went, but it was still fun to watch.

"Hey guys, I have something to tell you all", Kid said sitting down next to his friends. "Oh, what is it?", Penny asked looking out at the game.

"Me and Felix are a couple now...."The words hung in the air. Lilly and Billy's jaws dropped in tandem. Penny's eyes glitched and she crashed. Nugget looked confused, although he usually looked confused. Ted looked back at Kid as if the brunette had confessed to murder. "Ummmm what?!", the Huxley twin asked. "yeah...I'm dating your brother, Ted" Kid Replied.

Kid's friends took a while for them to get used to Felix. It had been two weeks since Kid dropped the bomb. Besides Ted who had a mixed relationship with his brother Kids other friends Didn't completely hate Felix well Accept Lilly. She had a burning hatred for Felix. Lilly had had it ever since Second grade when something happened involving a stapler and a box of pencils that had sent them both to the principal's office. Lilly never told anyone why, but she always gave Felix dirty looks whenever she saw him. Kid hoped Lilly would keep her glares at a low considering Today Kids friends were going to have a sleepover at Nuggets house and Felix was indeed invited. 

Kids struggled with the sleeping bag willing it to stay in a small ball. Once he finally got it to behave he got up said bye to his mom and walked over to Nugget's house. Kid felt something strange as he walked something wasn't right. He couldn't really explain it but he had this feeling almost like déjà vu he remembered feeling like this along time ago but he couldn't put his finger on when.  
He kept thinking about it as he walked to Nugget's house. When did Kid felt like this? And then the answer hit him like a brick.

It was the first day of kindergarten. That's when he felt like this. When he was slowly losing control. "Oh no", he had to go back home. He had to do something he couldn't just-"Hey kid common in!", Billy said standing outside the door of nuggets house "Oh, yeah", kids said. Well, he was really in for it now. He should've just gone home or made an excuse that he was sick. He didn't notice was right in front of the house.

The brunette walked in and saw the rest of his friends and boyfriend playing cards. Lily and Felix were in an intense game of war. The others were playing Uno. Penny wasn't playing because she was a robot and she could predict everyone's moves in advance so it wouldn't be fair to the rest. Instead, she was making some popcorn for a movie. 

After a few games of Uno and a mediocre movie which everyone made funny comments on Kid had almost forgotten about his weird feeling and the player. "my favorite actor was the dog" Ted said sending everyone in a fit of laughter "I got to go to the restroom give me a sec" kid said walking into the restroom. Kid looked at the mirror and to his horror, someone who is definitely not Kid looked back

"L̮̰̠͊̄͘o̺̝̱̎͛͋n̦̰̥̈̓͂͞ͅg̦̎ ̦̝͚͑̏͡ţ̨̳̂͒͘i̳̞̩̣̒͂͐͝m̢̤̣̐͒̿͘͢ȅ̻͖̩̓͊ ͚̪́̎n̟̽̍̅̈͢͜ͅo̬͍͒̇ ̧̢̮͖̞̌̒̀̅͝s͓͋͋͢e̗̠̱̣͈̓̔͒́̆e̤̯̔̽ ̨̻͕̬̐̈́̔̆͜͠" kid stumbled backward and hit the back of his head against the wall. "WHAT I-HOW" kids stuttered rubbing the back of his head "Ị̭͙͕̏̈́͐̄ ̧̳̝́̽͐̋͜h̩̉ȏ̤̙̾p̩̘̤̪̋̊͒̓̄͢e̫̊ ̗͐ỷ̞̦̀o͍̓u͕̥͛̑ ̬͡e̗̯̽͌n̝͔̒͘j̜͚̈͒ȏ̢̥̲͚̽̂͞ÿ̳́ę̼̬͎̱̾͒̊̉̊d͕́͟͝ ̛̘̼͉̤͌̓́͢͞ý͎͚̟̻̒̌͡o͓͚͐̃u̥̣͔̺͛̐̓͒ȓ̲ ̠̾ḟ͔̠̲̼̈́̓̚r̛̬͙̒eê̙̏͟d̥͇͗̅̅͜o̢̮̳̻͋̌̚̕m̦͛ ̨͖̍̈́̄͜w̠̺͇̑͐̅h̼͖́̾i͙̎l̨̢̠̫̏̍̚̚ë̯́ ̜̦̿̈́i͓͒t̮͡ ͚͂la̜͈̬͑͌͝sṫ̢̖̩̬̰͒̌̍̎e̬̱̭͍͊͗̔͠d͙̞̻̄̽̈́̚͜", The player said his voice dark and layered switching Up a key and then back down again. The Player's voice didn't sound anything like a normal human's voice should sound. it switched up constantly so it sounded like multiple people talking it went from a dark voice filled with gravitas to A light high-pitched sound that made you want to run and hide.

"WHAT NO I-" kid protested, but the player didn't seem to care much. Its hand outstretched through the mirror and grabbed Kid by the collar. At its touch kid went limp and The player dropped the now unconscious kid on the floor. Footsteps rang through the hall coming towards the restroom. Some of them must've Heard the screams and come running. The Player's expression changed from excited insanity to a dark scowl he slipped his hand back to the mirror and disappeared. "KID ARE YOU OK-oh my god",


	5. Chapter 5

Lilly and Billy ran into the restroom followed by Nugget, Penny, and the Huxley twins. "KID ARE YOU OK?-oh god", Billy said looking completely shellshocked. "What happened?! Where's Ki-", Penny stopped when she saw the unconscious boy lying on the cold bathroom tiles. "NUGGET IS HERE", Nugget said arriving after everyone else.

After the initial shock came the panic. "WHAT HAPPENED WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!", Ted frantically asked to no one in particular. "I DONT KNOW!?", Lily Snapped back at Ted "WHAT SHOULD WE DO!?", cried nugget. "First we need to-", Penny paused trying to find the words. "Call his parents...yeah we need to call his parents immediately and tell them what happened!" 

"Great thinking Penny!", Billy said picking up his phone and dialing Kid's parent's number. "The person you're trying to contact is not available. Please try again later or leave a message at the beep. BEEEEEEP", the phone replied crushing everyone in the small bathroom's hopes at once. "Well now we're fucked", Lilly said defeat in her eyes. "Nuggets friends can still leave messages at the beep", Nugget pointed out.

After more panicking, a rushed voicemail to Kid's parents and a call to the cops which did practically nothing since the nearest police station was miles away. The group of teenagers were at a complete loss on what to do to help Kid. Finley after what seemed like hours, Felix spoke up. "Wait, Penny, can't you do a check-up on him to see what happened with your robot sense or something?". 

"I didn't think of that but yeah! That would work!" Penny said, stooping down next to Kid's unconscious body. Penny placed her hand on Kid's heart and then...Penny fainted. "WHAT THE?!", Billy said jumping back. "How did that happen?!", Ted asked while stepping down to lift Penny off Kid. "NUGGET THINKS THAT'S A BAD IDEA-", but before nugget had time to properly object, Ted collapsed as well leaving the rest of the teenagers at a loss. "Well it's official, we're screwed," Lilly said looking down at the pile of bodies on the floor.

Penny opened up her eyes and looked up, but instead of being greeted with the familiar bathroom, she was somewhere completely different. Instead of tiles, the floor seemed to be made up of nothing. The same type of nothing the walls were made out of or were there any walls at all? It all Looked like a void of bluish-green with nothing in sight well except for Ted who had just gotten up. "What the?- Where are we?", he asked looking a bit dazed. "I have no idea", Penny replied. 

Soon Lilly, Billy, Nugget, and Felix appeared behind them "Penny, Ted there you are. Wait where are we", Billy asked looking out at the void it was empty except for- "KID", Felix ran towards the only other thing in the void. Kid was suspended in the air by strings that hung from the ceiling. His eyes were closed. His body was limp and lifeless hanging there...

"Kid, Kid please can you hear me?!", Felix asked tears dripping down his face as he slowly lost his cool calm collected self. No, no, no. Kid can't be dead. This is all a dream, right? Oh, please let this be a dream. The Huxley twin thought himself closing his eyes and willing himself to wake up, but you can't wake up out of real-life and this, unfortunately, was not a dream...

"OH GOD KID!", Lilly screamed running forward as the rest followed her. "We need to get him down", Penny said trying to keep herself together long enough to get out of wherever they were. "And how are we going to do that?", Billy asked turning to Penny "Nugget thinks if one person lifted the other we would be able to get Nugget's friend down", Nugget said. 

Ted lifted Nugget and just when kid was and reach the strings puled him father up so there is no possibility of reaching him. "WHAT THE HELL!?", Lilly asked outraged as Ted and Nugget toppled over "I ̘̎c̪͙͗̽a͉͑ǹ̳'͍̀t ̤̈́j̣͑ust̲̓ ̆ͅl̪̠̔͒e̹̚t͓͊ ͈̟̅̎y͍͂ou ̨̔s͔̔av̬͍̀̓ḙ̩̏͡ ͔̦̀̓h͉͌im", a voice echoed from behind. The group turned around abruptly and were met with the hollow eyes and icy stare of the player

"Ŷ̵̧̘o̶̧͑͊ù̶̺ ̷̨͔̓͌f̷̻̼̈͐o̶̍ͅu̸̡͠n̴͉̼͂d̴̗̺͑͋ ̵̞̈́͠o̵͓̽u̴̩͉̎t̵͚͈͒ ̵̦̅͆h̵̩̓ö̶̝́̐w̵͔͆̕ ̸̠͘ͅt̷͙̾̀ȏ̷̗̰͌ ̷͇̮͂ḙ̴̉ǹ̷̩̰ṭ̶̩̆e̸̯̔ŕ̷̯͐ ̴̭̈K̴͍̈ị̶̽͝d̵̲̉͠'̶̗̾s̷͖̆̕ ̶̜͈̈̕h̵̲̾͛é̶̠͛á̴̘̣̀d̶͈̋.̴͈͙͑ ̵̢͊̋͜I̷̬͗̓'̸͕̓͌m̴̞̳͂ ̴̧͝i̶̛̠͗m̸͜͠ṕ̶̡͆r̷̺̀̿e̸͔͋̕s̵̬̯͘s̵̛̥̯͆ȩ̶̖̇d̷̡̙̒̏" "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO KID?!" Lilly said stepping forward hatred in her eyes. "Ṍ̲͟h ̜̣̀̿l͚̋̔͢ò̟̮͡ok͙̓ ̩͔̊͐its t̳͆he̩̎ ̹̌s͙͖͗͘t̡̮̆̎roṋ̏ğ̩ ̳͠c̠̜̏̕o͈͚̒̅nf͖̪́͊ĩ̭̙̚d̩͓͛̽e̳͞n̖̠̾͊t̠̑ ͖̍L̓͟il̠͌̏͜l̘̞͒̋y ̲͔̿͘ẖ̡̉͗er̘̊e̙̎̆͟ ̭͋ṭ͖̃̏o ̝͔̎̄ṡ̘̦͘a̙͋v͍̘́̆ĕ̤ ̘̞́̎heṛ̍ b̩̏e̯͌s̠͛ṭ̯͊̕ ̛̬̲̄fr͔̓͟͡i̝̿ẽ͇nd̢̓ ̖̩̋̚y̡̑ò̳u'̝͚̈́͒l͎̰̊̕l͚̊̀͜ ͖̕b̬͡e͈͌ ̾͟f͖̿̍͟u̖̦̓̈́n͉͔͑̎ ̨̗̈̎to̦͌ play w̺̜̐̀i̛̱͎͝t̤̲̒̌h͍̓"̜̚  
I that moment strings came down from the ceiling wrapping around Lilly and pulling her so far up it was almost impossible to see her. "LILLY NOOOOOO!", Billy cried. "Ḽ̽e̡̎ẗ̼͉́̍ ̻̈t̰̚h̫̆e̢̥̿͘ ͇͆pu̫̯͆̐p̨͟͞͞p͈͐e̢͗̆ͅt̨̛͎̐ ̭͊sh̰̻͘͝ǒ̢w̮̆ ̼̿ḃ̬egi̇͟n̰͋!͕̘̀̇"̺̚ With that, strings came down and trapped the people still on the ground pulling them higher up like marionettes being pulled by a puppeteer.


	6. Chapter 6

Lilly looked around the void from up high, watching helplessly as her friends were pulled upward by the strings. Then something strange happened. One minute Lilly was suspended mid air, caught in the void's many strings, and the next she was looking at Several TV screens. "Ľ͇o̬͘ok ̼̎L͕̑ī̡l̩̂ļ̉y i̱͋t̖̔'̢̏s ͖̎al͖̚l̫̑ your ̙́frien͚͞ds̥͞ ẗ̞h͍̎e̟̕y ̠̔l̰̅ȍ͢ok s̹̐ö̧ ̝̔h̺̚appy ̡̑". Lilly looked. "T̨͆he̻̿y lȏ̧o̹͑k ḥ̀appi̠̽er than̰̄ n̯̅o̱̊rmal.͕̅ ̜͑do̯̽ ỵ̃ou ͈̑kno̝̾w why ̢̋t̮̀ḥ̀á̢t ̼̋is͔͂?". "No," Lilly said bluntly pulling at the strings she was trapped in "It'̳̾s ̺̆bë͕́cä̜u̐͜s̺̓ȇ̢ yoù͉'r̪̄e ̙́n̛͢o̡͠t t̼͡heȓ͇é͟". "Wha-" "It's ̟͞b͗ͅec͔͆aů̫ș̅e ̣́yó̞u'rȅ̜, not ther̞͂e ͇͐L̻͂il̪͌ly ̻̊t̺̅he̗͡y ̲̅a̳͒ll ha̢͡t͇̂e ̫͒yoü̼ the only̛͈ ͓͂r̰̓e̯̍as͕͛on why̯͡ the̫͠y̖̍ ̖̈́p̢̛u̧͐t ̜͘up̥͋ with ͓͠you̯̐ ̟͞ì͟s̤̈ ̦͋b͙̀ec͕̓auś̡e ̻̈́y̯̓ou̼͝'re Bĭ̜lly̰̓'s sister". "No, no that's not true they care about m-"

"Oh̪̅ ̜̓c̭͑o̩͒m̗̍e̡̓ ͈̚on͔̈ ̛͟yȯ̥u̟͒ ̲͂don̤̓'t̬̑ ̖͌nè͙è̟d ̻̏t̫́o̰͝ ̖͞de̦̊ny̧̅ it ̤͝we a͇̿l̟͑l k̛͔now ̖͋î͢t's ̨͗tru͍͠e̺̔". Lilly tried to focus on anything but that haunting voice. The truth was that Lilly had always doubted herself, feeling like people didn't really like her and only just tolerated her. She knew it wasn't true but it seemed so convincing now with someone else confirming all her doubts about herself. Lilly tried pulling at the strings again trying helplessly to break free from the player's words, from this haunting prison of lies that seemed so true. 

The player continued to tell Lilly she was worthless and that no one cared about her. To make matters worse, the screens started to echo the player's messages, telling Lilly she didn't matter in every voice she had ever heard - her parents, her brother, her friends, and her teachers. She heard Billy's voice, Ted's voice, Nugget's voice, Kid's voice and... one principle's voice, in particular.

That kindergarten had given Lilly enough childhood trauma to last a lifetime, but something about that voice made Lilly stop crying it changed her mood completely. The player had messed up. They must've thought Lilly would be sad from hearing that man's voice but quite the opposite. Lilly's tears ran dry and she thought long and hard about all the amazing stuff anyone had ever said about her. She thought about how much her friends and parents loved her. She thought about how much she wanted to prove people like Cindy and the principal wrong.

Everything here was just a lie, a fabrication. And when Lilly realized that, she felt stronger than a player would ever be... "I'm not your puppet." The glass on the TV shattered. The strings recoiled and Lilly fell down....down....down...

Simultaneously, Billy was being dragged upward by the player's strings, still screaming and crying for his sister. Up high, the void seemed to collapse on itself, shifting from a light blue to a darker shade. Billy felt the need to breathe more than usual as he was submerged in a greenish-blue substance. A déjà vu overwhelmed Billy as he started to silently panic. The player didn't even need to say anything. Billy was already succumbing to his fears. This was almost too easy...

Billy banged on the glass. If it weren't for the liquid around him he would've been hyperventilating. Billy's mind flashed back to that stuffy place under the principal's office that he remembered all too well. Billy was drowning in an ocean of old memories, sinking further down the more he tried to forget.

It felt like the world was caving in on him as his lungs started to fail. No, no, it can't end like this. He had gotten out of here once, he could do it again. Although, that time Lilly and Kid had been there to save him. But no one was here now. Billy was all alone. Part of Billy wanted to just curl up in a ball and die here, trying seemed so hard. But that's not what he was going to do. If no one was here to save him then he was going to have to save himself. Billy held together all the strength he had left, closed his eyes focused. If he hit the glass at an angle, it would break faster. He just needs to... CRASH! The glass broke as Billy fell out of the test tube.

The Player scowled but their disdain didn't last for long. As angry as they felt at the escape of both Lilly and Billy, he had other puppets to play with. Billy had fallen on the shattered glass. Pieces were stuck in his arms and legs making him bleed, but at least he could breathe now. The void collapsed for a second time and suddenly Billy was back with his sister "BILLY, OH MY GOD!" Lilly screamed, running towards her brother. 

Meanwhile, in another part of the void, the player slithered towards a blonde-haired boy. A sinister smile danced across their face, but Nugget was not scared...

Nugget unlike the others had come in contact with the player multiple times in the past. Sure Nugget was considered crazy back in kindergarten but he was probably the smartest idiot there having knowledge of the time loops and resets. Nugget knew the player was still out there. He could sense the player's presence so when they approached Nugget, he was not frightened in the least. 

The last time Nugget and the player had spoken they were on good terms, but now Nugget did not agree with the player. The time loops had gotten boring after a while. He found out everything he could about the resets. He didn't want them coming back. "This ends here," Nugget said.

The nugget-obsessed boy conjured a sword, a nugget sword. Nugget knew the rules of the mind. he also knew how to exploit loopholes. He could create anything he could imagine here. It did take almost a year to master the skill, but nugget had done it. In here, he had just as much power as the player.

"FOR NUGGETS FRIENDS!" Nugget screamed as he charged. The player jumped out of the way and conjured a sword of his own. The fight looked like something straight out of a movie. The player got in a jab, dangerously close to Nugget's leg. Nugget dished out some powerful blows, but they were nothing compared to the player's agility, making it almost impossible to get in a hit.

Finally after what seemed like hours of fighting, Nugget's sword hit its target in the player's chest. "Ả̷̮̙͚̜̓̕H̵̐̀̚ͅH̵̨̺̏̌̀͠R̶̫̙̤̉̀͠G̷̫̬̗̈́̄̇͒G̵̘͇̘̑͑" The player screamed wincing in pain.

Nugget was teleported back to Lilly and Billy. The player was beyond mad now looking down at the hole in his chest. Pressing one button would enable the code of this universe to pop up. Pressing another button would pull up their health bar. They pressed firmly and the hole in the player's chest disappeared, leaving nothing but a tiny scar. Being impaled was just a minor setback, at least for the player. Besides, no matter what happens, the show must go on...

End of Act l


End file.
